A month after the new strain was uncovered in England, a similar lineage emerged in South Africa, called B.1.351, quickly becoming the dominant variant in that country and setting off on its own tour of the world. It had the same mutation as B.1.1.7 that allowed it to adhere more tightly to the ACE2 receptors, but it also carried an additional mutation that is far more concerning. The mutation is denominated E484K, meaning that a single amino acid, glutamic acid (code letter E) has been replaced by another, lysine (code letter K), at position 484 of the genetic sequence of the spike protein.
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